This seems to be a very active week for celebrity deaths, and it's sad to report that Carol Burnett Show veteran Harvey Korman has died at age 81. He died of a ruptured abdominal aneurysm at his UCLA Medical Center.
Besides The Carol Burnett Show, where Korman teamed for a ton of great sketches with Tim Conway (often cracking each other up), Korman appeared in many other shows since the early 60s, including ER, Ellen, Perry Mason, Route 66, The Red Skelton Show, Dennis the Menace, Hazel, Jack Benny, Gidget, The Lucy Show, The Munsters, The Wild, Wild West, F Troop, and many others. He was a regular on the sitcom Mama's Family and did the voice of The Great Gazoo on The Flintstones. Movies that Korman appeared in include History of the World, Part 1, High Anxiety, The Pink Panther Strikes Again, Blazing Saddles, Son of Flubber, Gypsy, and others.
Do you ever get the feeling that all of the great classic stars and performers are dying and it's going to be a very different world in a couple of years? Rather depressing.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
5-29-2008 @ 7:58PM
Sharon said...
I used to love him and Tim Conway together.
They were hilarious.
I thought I read somewhere that there was going to a Carol Burnett reunion show.
He will be missed.
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5-29-2008 @ 9:04PM
MacGuffin said...
"My mind is a raging torrent, flooded with rivulets of thought cascading into a waterfall of creative alternatives." Hedley Lamarr - Blazing Saddles
R.I.P. Harvey.
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5-30-2008 @ 1:36AM
Ed Venture said...
Ditto!
/R.I.P. Harvey
5-29-2008 @ 9:37PM
Lenny said...
Man, that's sad news. What a great entertainer he was.
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5-29-2008 @ 10:46PM
Crow said...
He was one of the best. Loved him on the Burnett show and really loved him in Blazing Saddles and High Anxiety. Very sad to see him go.
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5-29-2008 @ 11:29PM
Jeff N. said...
Harvey Korman was just plain funny. It is so sad to see that he has passed. This is been a rough week for entertainment world. Sydney Pollack, Dick Martin and Harvey Korman. It does feel like an era is passing before our eyes.
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5-29-2008 @ 11:43PM
MERVE-THE-PERVE said...
It is depressing to see that most of the greats of yesteryear are gone. Just about everybody from Vaudeville is gone. The Rat Pack are gone. Probably 75% of the stars from the black & white era of film & tv are gone. Still don't know why they almost always go out in 3's though. Soon enough we'll be talking about all these young ones now dying all the time while they're still young. All the upcoming drug overdoses, drunk driving deaths, psychotic rampages that end in death, and suicides. I can see about 10 young stars die this way in the next 5-10 years. I am saddened by Harvey's death. Everyone in my family loved everything he did. I grew up watching him on the CB show and he was great in all the Mel Brooks movies.
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5-29-2008 @ 11:53PM
Picviewer said...
Once again the Rule of 3 rears it's head and takes 3 more from here. They all will be missed.
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5-30-2008 @ 12:35AM
Phish said...
he died at the age of 81, and most of the "classic" stars are dead or near-death.
they havent made any significant contribution in the last 10 years or so at the least.
so the world has already moved on and has changed. i feel TV now is FAR better than what it was. i am more excited about TV shows now than MOST movies.
i'd rather watch a 3-hour episode of battlestar galactica than any movie released in the last 3 years as well as any tv-show released in the 50's, 60's 70's 80's.
so how is this sad for our generation? thank god we have moved on.
i'm guessing you are pushing 60 bob.
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5-30-2008 @ 6:45PM
starky22 said...
God forbid we should remember the good old days, Phish. There were a lot of good television shows and movies back in the "old days," and there's nothing wrong with honoring the folks that made it happen.
5-30-2008 @ 9:53PM
smikwily said...
I'm 33 and think that the combination of Harvey Korman and Tim Conway is one of the greatest duos ever. I used to love the Carol Burnett show in general, but whenever the two of them were on stage together, I had a hard time even blinking.
Another commenter on another site linked the Dentist sketch, one of the greatest pieces of classic television if you ask me - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9T8i4FkNVo . Conway loved to improvise and watching Korman react made it all the funnier.
Rest in Peace, Harvey. Your genius will not be forgotten.
5-30-2008 @ 1:09AM
Dwacon said...
I thought Harvey looked frail when he appeared on TV Land awards a year or so ago. He made a comment about his doctor giving him pills to help him stand erect. The sly entendre notwithstanding, I secretly hoped that he wasn't as frail as he appeared.
Sad to know the earth is a bit less funny without him... Harvey will be missed!
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5-30-2008 @ 1:49AM
David said...
Todays Leno, Letterman, Jon Stewart, Robin Williams,Billy Crystal, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Kelsey Grammar, etc,etc are now established TV legends. Unfortunately all of us have to go, and fortunately the greats such as Korman will always be with us on film and TV.
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5-30-2008 @ 1:53AM
ratphink said...
Let's no forget his other TV contribution.
The Star Wars Holiday Special.
He was always one of my favorites and it's a bummer knowing he's not around anymore. RIP Harvey.
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5-30-2008 @ 4:47AM
Tony Jones said...
You made my family and I laugh. We'll always remember you. A tribute was created in his honor. Feel free to share your memories and photos.
http://respectance.com/Harvey_Korman
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5-30-2008 @ 10:02AM
Emily said...
I think my first celebrity crush was for Harvey Korman. He had old school charm and was just plain funny. I loved watching him try to keep his composure when doing a skit with Conway or Burnett.
RIP Mr Korman, you will be missed.
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5-30-2008 @ 10:06AM
chgosaint said...
Carol Burnett sang it best at the end of every show on how I fell about Harvey Korman's passing, "I'm so glad we had this time together, just to share a laugh or ding a song, seems we just get started and before you know, comes a time we have to say... so long." Good night, Harvey. Thank you for the memories.
The Carol Burnett Show and YOU introduced me to great comedy as a child. I didn't always get all the jokes back then, but now when I see some of those skits the subtext was incredible.
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5-30-2008 @ 10:09AM
BJ said...
R.I.P. Harvey.
I will miss your wonderful antics which brought laughter to so many of us.
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5-30-2008 @ 2:08PM
Paul Goebel said...
I wonder if Harvey will be able to keep a straight face during Tim Conway's eulogy.
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5-30-2008 @ 4:12PM
Rod said...
Hedly Lemarr will be missed
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